Another sign that we're entering a more rough-and-tumble period in the 2012 presidential race: Jon Huntsman, seeking a way to energize his campaign, is hitting Mitt Romney hard on his job-creation record while Romney was governor of Massachusetts. At a campaign event Monday evening in South Carolina, Huntsman, the former Utah governor, while not naming Romney directly, left no doubt whom he was talking about. "When you look at the absolute increases in job creation, Utah led the way in the United States in terms of job creation," Huntsman said, according to CNN . "That, compared and contrasted with certain other states like Massachusetts, which I will just pull out randomly, not first, but 47th.

Jon Huntsman, who initially staked his presidential campaign on New Hampshire, now heads to South Carolina, where a recent poll shows him trailing even satirical television host Stephen Colbert. Colbert, who attempted unsuccessfully to buy naming rights for the first-in-the-South primary, is not a candidate in the race. But a new survey by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows Colbert beating Huntsman if his name were to appear on the primary ballot on Jan. 21. It's not entirely surprising that Colbert would poll better than Huntsman.

Jon Huntsman on Friday condemned an Internet video that appears to be from supporters of Ron Paul that uses his time in China - and even his adopted daughters - to question his values. The video, posted to YouTube by the account "NHLiberty4Paul," first calls Huntsman the "Manchurian Candidate," asking: "What's he hiding?" It then shows footage of Huntsman speaking Mandarin, and photos and video of him and adopted daughter Gracie Mei. It goes on to ask if Huntsman "share[s]

Jon Huntsman Jr., the former ambassador to China who recently announced his candidacy for president, has raised $4.1 million, a campaign official says. An unspecified amount comes from funds that Huntsman contributed himself, the official said, adding only that Huntsman donated less than half of the total. Because Huntsman has filed his official notice of candidacy later than others in the race, the details will not be reported to the Federal Election Commission until after the FEC third-quarter reporting period ends Sept.

Prospective presidential candidate Jon Huntsman said Saturday that he won't try to compete in the Iowa caucuses early next year. Speaking at a Republican breakfast at a North Conway, N.H., hotel and sounding more and more like he's preparing a run at the GOP nomination, Huntsman tied his strategy to his opposition to federal agricultural and ethanol subsidies. "I'm not competing in Iowa for a reason," Huntsman said. "I don't believe in subsidies that prop up corn, soybeans and ethanol.

The beautiful part of holding two debates 10 hours apart -- beside the fact that the candidate are far more alert and energetic -- is that the wounds of the previous evening, still fresh, can be addressed. Yes, folks, we've got ourselves the equivalent of a debate do-over! Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman was still stinging from Saturday night's debate when moderator David Gregory asked him Sunday morning which programs Huntsman would cut that would cause pain in this "age of austerity.

As Jon Huntsman launched his campaign for the presidency Tuesday, he gave only brief mention of one of the most curious aspects of his candidacy: service to the president he now hopes to run against in 2012. Huntsman talks of viewing America from "10,000 miles away," an allusion to his service as ambassador to China. And he told reporters traveling with him from New Hampshire on Tuesday that his foreign policy experience was something that differentiates him from the rest of the field.

In its endorsement of Jon Huntsman, the Boston Globe made largely the same case for the Utah governor's candidacy that the candidate himself has to New Hampshire voters -- that he is the rare GOP candidate prioritizing the national interest over ideology. The Globe, which has a reach into many southern New Hampshire homes, snubbed former home state Gov. Mitt Romney for the second time in its endorsement for the first-in-the-nation primary, after backing John McCain in the 2008 vote.

If policy speeches and retail campaigning don't work, there are always fake mustaches and bubbles. Eager to find its way into any story line, the Jon Huntsman campaign is up with a new Web video parodying the viral Herman Cain spot featuring his smoke-blowing campaign manager. It features three of Huntsman's daughters -- the "Jon2012girls" -- wearing thick-rimmed eyeglasses and terrible, terrible fake mustaches in an attempt to mimic the bizarre Cain video. "We strongly believe that our dad has the experience and proven track record to revive America's economy and create jobs.

In a jammed, overheated room in the University of South Carolina's business school, Jon Huntsman Jr., who has joked that he is the “margin-of-error candidate,” touted his third-place finish in New Hampshire as a “ticket to ride” to this state's influential primary. “That was pretty cool, standing on that stage,” he said. Huntsman, a moderate Republican, said expectations were low for him in South Carolina and would not say what threshold he needed to reach to propel him to Florida.